System for enabling users to create tasks

ABSTRACT

There is disclosed a system for enabling a user to create at least one task. The system comprises a host server ( 300 ) for hosting task pages once they have been created, at least one user computer ( 302 ) running a browser program operable by at least one user to access task pages hosted by said host server that said at least one user has permission to access, and a task creator configured to create a task record in response to a command from an initiating user, the task record including a task universal resource indicator (uri) for each new task whereby said host server can create a task page from said task record that can be accessed using said task uri.

The present application claims priority of Australian provisional patentapplication no. 2003904507, the disclosure of which is incorporatedherein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a system for enabling a user to createat least one task that is particularly suited to enabling users tocommunicate with one another in relation to tasks.

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION

There are a number of existing systems which allow users to communicatewith one another over the Internet. These systems, such as MSN Messager,a product of Microsoft Corporation, require users to download anapplication, install the application and run the program in order to beavailable to other users.

A deficiency of these systems also require each person wanting to usethe system to obtain a copy of the software. Typically, this requiresthe user to register for the service at a particular website from theirbrowser. Accordingly, there is a need for an alternative system.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the invention provides a system for enabling a user tocreate at least one task, the system comprising:

-   -   a host server for hosting task pages once they have been        created;    -   at least one user computer running a browser program operable by        at least one user to access task pages hosted by said host        server that said at least one user has permission to access; and    -   a task creator configured to create a task record in response to        a command from an initiating user, the task record including a        task universal resource indicator (uri) for each new task        whereby said host server can create a task page from said task        record that can be accessed using said task uri.

Thus, in its broadest aspect the invention provides a convenientmechanism for a user to create a task which can be accessed by abrowser.

Preferably, said system comprises a plurality of user computers eachrunning a browser program and said task creator is configured to allowthe initiating user to specify at least one additional user for a taskand to create an association record specifying the initiating user andany additional users specified by the initiating user, the associationrecord defining the users who have permission to access the task page.

Preferably, when the initiating user specifies at least one additionaluser, the task creator dispatches a message including the task uri tothe at least one additional user to thereby inform the at least oneadditional user of the task whereafter the at least one additional usercan access said task page using the browser program run by theadditional user's user computer.

The message will typically be an e-mail message and/or an SMS message.

Typically, the task creator is a task creation program run by said hostserver which is operable using the browser program run by the initiatinguser's user computer.

Preferably, said task creator allows an initiating user to add at leastone subject uri of at least one subject page to the task record,whereafter the task page includes the at least one subject uri wherebyusers can access the subject page from the task page.

In a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention, a task creationuri is placed on a subject page and the initiating user sends a commandto said task creator by selecting the task creation uri whereafter thetask creator creates a task record including the uri of the subject uri.

Task creation from a subject page may automatically include anadditional user in the task record. For example, a user associated withthe subject page, such as a salesperson for a product referred to on thesubject page.

In another embodiment, a task creation uri is stored in a uri record ofthe browser and when viewing a subject page an initiating user sends acommand to said task creator by selecting the task creation uri from theuri record whereafter the task creator creates a task record includingthe subject uri.

In some embodiments, a task addition uri may be provided either on asubject page or in a uri record of the browser and selecting the taskaddition uri commands the task creator to add the subject page to anexisting task record.

It is preferred that the host server hosts a home page for each user andit is further preferred that the home page is configured such that userscan access all tasks which they have permission to access from theirrespective home pages.

Thus, a user can access task pages from the user's home page as analternative to accessing a task by means of the task uri.

The system preferably further includes an event creator for creatingevents associated with a task.

Preferably the event may be created from the task page.

Preferably, the system has a chat means which allows users who havepermission to access a task to chat to one another.

Preferably, each task page has means for initiating a chat.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Further features of embodiments of the invention will become apparentfrom the following description of the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 shows a typical log-in page;

FIG. 2 a shows a first page showing a portion of a home page;

FIG. 2 b shows a second page showing a portion of a home page;

FIG. 3 shows a log-in and home page flow chart;

FIG. 4 shows a page for creating a new task;

FIG. 5 shows a first task detail page.

FIG. 6 shows a secondary task detail page;

FIG. 7 shows a contact page for a task;

FIG. 8 shows an SMS message box;

FIG. 9 shows a contact detail page;

FIG. 10 shows a fourth task detail page;

FIG. 11 is a task detail page flowchart;

FIG. 12 is a data page flow chart;

FIG. 13 shows an event/contact detail page;

FIG. 14 shows an event reply page;

FIG. 15 shows a contact addition page;

FIG. 16 shows a contact list page;

FIG. 17 shows a contact search page;

FIG. 18 shows a chat detail page;

FIG. 19 is a chat page flow chart;

FIG. 20 shows a preferences page;

FIG. 21 shows a typical system configuration; and

FIG. 22 shows an update frame.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

An embodiment of the invention provides a system for enabling users of aplurality of computers to create tasks and to communicate with oneanother in relation to the tasks. Herein, the word “task” is used todescribe any communication by users in relation to a subject. Forexample, the task could relate to a meeting, a project, an opportunity,a tender, an article, a party, a web page a sporting activity or anyother activity in relation to which a group of people may desire tocommunicate. Herein, tasks are also referred to as “quick-links” or bythe abbreviation “QL”. Quick Link is a trade mark of Lost Boys Pty Ltd.

There may be a number of sub-communications within each task. Herein,these sub-communications are referred to as “events”. The events of atask may relate to different aspects of that task. For example, if atask relates to a project, one event may relate to a meeting of theproject team, another event may relate to a paper the team is workingon, and another event may report on a communication received from anoutside contractor.

As shown in FIG. 21, the system has a host server which hosts datarelating to web pages of the system. It will be appreciated by personsskilled in the art that the host server may consist of one or morecomputers which are connected to one another. The system also has aplurality of user computers 302 each of which run browser programsoperable by users to access web pages hosted by the host server via theInternet 301. Again persons skilled in the art will appreciate thatwhile a computer 302 will typically be a personal computer, it may beany other computing device which is capable of running a browser programsuch as a personal digital assistant. As all aspects of the system canbe used through a browser program, a user does not need to havespecialised software installed on their user computer 302. Indeed, thesystem can replace e-mail, file sharing, and contact managementsoftware. Further, as the system acts as a type of virtual privatenetwork, users who only use the system should not require spamfiltering.

As with the host computer 301, a user computer 302 may be one or morecomputers. Or a user may use alternative computers provided thosecomputers run browser programs.

While particularly advantageous aspects of the preferred embodiments ofthe invention are the manner in which new tasks are created and newusers are added to the system, the preferred embodiment will initiallybe described from the perspective of an existing member of the system.

FIG. 1 shows a typical log-in page 215 which a user can access byinputting a universal resource indicator (uri) for the system into abrowser program such as Microsoft Internet Explorer or NetscapeNavigator. A user enters their user name into user name field 1, theirpassword into password field 2 and submits their log-in details byclicking on log-in button 3.

If a user has forgotten their log-in details they can insert theire-mail address into e-mail address field 4 and click on button 5 to havetheir log-in details e-mailed to them.

Once the user is logged in, the user is taken to a home page 200. Part200 a of the home page is shown in FIG. 2 a and the remainder 200 b ofthe home page is shown in FIG. 2 b.

Each user's home page 200 has a number of tabs 6, 22, 23, 24, 25. Tab 6is the home page tab and lists the tasks 8 which are current for theuser John Smith in the title column 7. Referring to FIG. 1, the user hasthree tasks 8 a, 8 b and 8 c. Clicking on the word “Title” at the top ofthe title column allows a user to sort tasks alphabetically or by dateof creation. Next to task 8 a, the user is presented with two options“accept” 9 and “chat” 10. Clicking “accept” will send an e-mail to theuser who created the task informing them that John Smith has acceptedthe task 8 a. Accepting task 8 a also makes John Smith's contact detailspublic to other users who have permission to access the task. Herein the“initiating user”—i.e. the user who initiates creation of a task isknown as the owner of the task and all the other users are known asadditional users. By clicking on the word chat 10, a chat page is openedin respect of the task. The chat function will be described in furtherdetail below. Tasks 8 b and 8 c are established tasks where the user hasalready accepted the task and accordingly there is no accept button andthe chat button 10 has been relocated into the activity column 11. Theactivity column specifies the task type—e.g. tasks can be designated asbeing a quick-link, a project labelled with other nomenclature thatdescribes the type of task. Clicking on the word “activity” at the topof column activity column 11 allows the tasks to be sorted in accordancewith type.

When a user has been logged on for a period of time they may wish tocheck that there have been no new tasks or changes to tasks.Accordingly, they may click on “refresh page” to get updated informationfrom the server.

The events column 11 shown in FIG. 26 shows the number of eventsassociated with each task. Clicking on the number of events 13 takes theuser to the event page 205. The nomenclature 4-1-1 indicates that thereare four new events, one pending event and one complete event. This ismirrored in the event status column which is a colour bar that iscoloured red, amber and green for new, pending and complete tasksrespectively. The proportions of the bar which are coloured in thecolours red, amber and green reflect the relative numbers of new,pending and complete tasks.

The next column is the “open date” column 16 which indicates when thetask was initiated. The final column 17 is the “created by” column. Itshows that task 8 a was created by Sean Kelly (the initiating user forthis task). It also shows under the name of the initiating user, thelist of users who have permission to access this task by listing theirinitials. There is also a delete button 20 for deleting the task and anadd button 21 for adding additional users to the task.

A number of additional pages are accessible from the home page. Clickingon tab 22 takes the user to the page for creating a new task 201,clicking on tab 23 opens the contact list page for the user, clicking ontab 24 takes the user to archived task pages, clicking on thepreferences tab 25 takes the user to the preferences page 211. There isalso user information along the top right of the page including the nameof the user 26, the date the page was last downloaded 27, the time atwhich the page was last downloaded 28 and the number of SMS messages 29which the user has left. There is also a filter box 30 which allows theuser to filter tasks by entering a keyword such as “meet” to locatemeeting tasks.

Referring now to FIG. 3, the log-on process is shown in the form of aflow chart. At step 30 a user attempts to log-on, at step 31, the systemdecides whether to accept the log-on. If the system approves the log-onattempt, at step 32, the system gives the user access to the user's homepage and sets an ID cookie for the user in the user's browser. Thediagram shows that the user has a task list 33 of all their tasksincluding archived tasks and a contact list 34. Each task in the tasklist 33 is associated with particular contacts in the contact list.There may be users who are associated with a task who are not on thecontact list page. For example, if they have been added by another partyto the task. If a user chooses to add a new task, the user selects thenew task page, at step 35, adds contacts at step 36, messages such as ane-mail or SMS message are sent at step 37 to each of the added contactswhich in this case are contacts 2 and 3 and then the user goes to thetask detail page 201 to enter details of the past task as will bedescribed in more detail below.

Persons skilled in the art will appreciate that it is not efficient tomaintain separate pages for each user and each task, accordingly, therea number of data bases which are stored by the host server in such amanner that they allow the pages to be constructed and served to userson demand by the server. The first of these databases is an entitydatabase which contains information about each user, e.g. a name,password, and ID number. Many additional details are kept as shown, forexample in FIG. 20. That is, most of the details on the preferences pageshown in FIG. 20 are also kept. Persons skilled in the art willappreciate that a wide range of details can be kept.

In addition to the entity data base there is an entity association database. The entity association data base maintains a list of other entityID numbers for other users which are associated with the entity.

When a member logs on, a search is performed of the entity data base andif the user name and password match a record in the entity data base acookie containing the user's entity ID number is set in the user'sbrowsers. This cookie lets the system know which entity is requestinginformation from the system as they move from page to page, thus, when auser accesses their contact list page a search is performed of theentity association data base to find all matches of the ID number in thecookie to an entity ID number owner. These records contain links to thecontact information of the other entities (users).

There is also a task entity data base which contains records for eachtask. The creator of the task or initiating user has “ownership” status;only they can edit the title and description of the task, add Notes, orspecify the activity type. For each task, a record is created in thetask data base. Associated with the task data base is the task/entityassociation data base. The task entity association data base specifiesthe initiating users and additional users who have an association withthe task—i.e. permission to access the task. Accordingly, a user'scookie can be used to search the task/entity association data base todetermine tasks which are associated with the user in order to displaythese tasks in their home page.

There are also event and event/entity data bases for managing eventsassociated with tasks. As with the task data base, there is a record inthe event data base for each event and there are records in the evententity association data base related to the specific users who areassociated with the event. Accordingly, the server can search theevent/entity data base in order to provide a list of all events for aparticular user.

Referring now to FIG. 4, there is shown a new task page. The user accessthis page by selecting the “create q-link” tab 22 (i.e. the task tab)from their home page 200. The user who as they are creating the task isreferred to as the initiating user is then prompted to specify thedetail for the task. By providing and submitting the detail, theinitiating user is providing a command to a task creation program (“taskcreator”) run by the server to create a new task record. Each new taskrecord includes a universal resource indicator specific to that task(“task uri”).

The user can enter a title in title box 40 in description box 41. In thepreferred embodiment, the user has the opportunity to select from anumber of different task types. These task types using a scrollable menucontained in task box 42. In the preferred embodiment the task type doesnot affect the nature of the task. However, persons skilled in the artwill appreciate that different types of tasks may have different fieldsassociated with them and accordingly require the user to specifydifferent information. The types of tasks may include projects,meetings, etc. The person clicks on the contact button 43 to save andadd contacts to the task. This takes the user to the contact add pagewhich will be described in further detail below.

Default messaging in the system is by way of e-mail messaging. However,the user has the option to add additional forms of messaging. In thepreferred embodiment, the user has the option to add short messageservice messaging. SMS invitation buttons 44 allow the user to selectwhether an SMS invitation should be sent to users which are invited tojoin this new task. SMS event buttons 45 specify whether SMS messagesshould be sent each time a new event is added to the task.

The use of SMS messaging to transmit a message to a user's mobileterminal is a convenient way of keeping users abreast of tasks. Inparticular, it allows users who are away from their computers to be keptin contact with a task or to be advised that they need to check on theprogress of a particular task.

Referring to FIG. 5, there is shown a task detail page 202. This taskdetail page has been accessed by the user selecting task 8 c from homepage 200. The task list has a “back to list” tab 50 which allows theuser to return to home page 200, and has the create quick-link andcontact list tabs 22, 23 that are also found in the home page. The titleof task 8 c is shown.

Title and subject area 51 shows the name of the task and description ofthe purpose of the task. The words “new event” show when a new event hasbeen added since the user last visited their home page. Provided theuser is the owner of the task (i.e. the user who initiated the task) auser can click on the title 52 in order to edit the title, thedescription and any notes associated with the task.

Archive link 53 allows the user to archive a task once it has beencompleted. Delete button 54 allows the owner of a task to delete thetask once it has been completed or is no longer relevant. The deletebutton is only visible to the owner of the task. The send event box 55allows the user to enter details of a new event. Below this area aremessage type selection buttons 56 a and 56 b which allow a user toselect whether to send the message by e-mail only 56 a or by e-mail andSMS 56 b. Once the user has entered details of their event. For example“I have arranged a meeting at 3 pm on Thursday with our financial backercan you attend?” the user can send the task message to the contacts(i.e. users) specified in contact box 58. By default, the event will besent to all of the users associated with the task. For each user, inthis case Fred Barnes and Tony Soprano, there are checkboxes 59 a and 59b respectively. When the respective check boxes are checked, the eventwill be sent to this user when the send button 57 is clicked. Thus, theuser can deselect particular checkboxes 59 in order to exclude aparticular user from an event. For example, it may be the case that onlyTony Soprano's presence is required at the meeting with the financialbacker referred to above. The system of the preferred embodiment alsohas the capability to add additional contacts from the task pageselecting add contact button 60 takes the user to the contact list page208. This may be used to add a contact for a specific event. Forexample, to add the details of the financial backer in order to confirmdetails of the meeting. There is also a chat start button 61 which opensa chat page with all users who are online. (If the user is online, anonline status 63 is displayed next to their name 62.)

Referring to FIG. 6, there is shown the secondary task detail page 203.The secondary task detail page is normally displayed immediately belowthe task detail page 2 in order to display all of the informationassociated with a particular task. The events list displays when theevents tab 70 is selected by the user. Selecting the people tab 71transfers the view to a display of all the contacts associated with thetask. Selecting the data tab 72 shows all web pages that are linked tothis task. Selecting button 73 brings up a help screen and selectingbutton tab 74 transfers the user to the preferences page 211.

The event list has a number of columns which specify different aspectsof the task. Number column 75 shows the number of the task, 76 shows whothe task was sent to and column 77 shows who the task is from. In eachof these columns, the initials of the users associated with the task aredisplayed. It will be apparent to persons skilled in the art that thesize of the boxes displaying the initials can be increased as necessaryor made scrollable to accommodate a larger number of users. The eventswhich are visible to a user are only those where the user's initials areeither in the to or from column. In this case the user is John Smith andJ S is in the to column of the first event 78 a and the from column ofthe second event 78 b. The “when” column 79 specifies when the event wascreated. The “status” column 80 specifies whether the task is new, inprogress, or completed. The SMS, e-mail or both column specifies whetherthe event was sent by SMS and at the right hand end of the page thereare delete buttons 82 which allows an event to be deleted. Under thedetail for each message is the subject 83 of the event 78. For example,for event 78 a, there is the message “Shall I table the new report?”.Similarly, for event 78 b there is the message “I have booked theboardroom for 1 pm” 83 b. Associated with each of the tasks 78 are replybuttons to allow users to reply to an existing event. Selecting thereply button 84 a, 84 b transfers the user to the reply page 206. Theuser's reply is then added to the event. Referring to status column 80,the user can select the status from the status column in order to changethe status.

Referring now to FIG. 7 there is shown the people page 203 b selected bythe people tab 71 of the event detail page 203 a. The name column 91lists the names of each of the users associated with the task, whetherthey are online and whether they have accepted a task. Acceptance isindicated by acceptance bars 92 which are either coloured green as isthe case with acceptance bar 92 a or red as is the case with acceptancebars 92 b and 92 c to indicate whether a user has accepted a task.Clicking on the names will take the user to the contact detail page 204for that user.

The event column specifies whether the user can receive SMS by thedesignation “R” as well the number of events to which they are linked bymeans of a numeral. Clicking on “SMS” opens the send SMS box 212 whichis shown in FIG. 8. This allows a user to compose and enter an SMSmessage into area 110 and to send the SMS message by pressing button111. The “@” column 94 shows an e-mail program icon and indicateswhether an e-mail message can be sent to the user. Privacy column 95indicates the privacy status. John Smith is the owner or initiating userof this task. Currently John Smith's details are available for others toview. Accordingly, in the privacy column 95 there is shown a “hide” linkwhich allows the initiating user to change the status of the privacy oftheir contact details to hidden. The word “accept” in this columnindicates that Fred Barnes and Tony Soprano allow their details to beviewed.

The SMS invite column 96 allows the user to send an invitation SMSmessage to a user in order to enable them to join a task by clicking onthe invite SMS button. The invite SMS button then automatically composesan SMS message specifying the task and inviting the user to attend. Thisfunction is useful if a user has failed to respond to an e-mailinvitation and was not initially invited by SMS message. Therelationship column allows the user to specify the relationship of auser to the task. For example, John Smith is shown as the owner of thetask, Fred Barnes is shown as a work colleague and Tony Soprano is shownas an associate.

The e-mail column 98 shows the user's e-mail address and the add contactcolumn 99 allows a user either to add an additional contact by clickingon “Add a contact” to a task or to remove a contact.

Referring now to FIG. 9, there is shown the contact details forparticular users. The user is Tony Soprano, and accordingly, the user'sfirst name “Tony” is shown in the first name box 120 and the user'ssecond name is shown in the second name box 121. The user's e-mailaddress shown in e-mail box 122, if the user had a group it would beshown in group box 123, the user's mobile (cellular) telephone number isshown in phone number box 124, the user's relationship to the usercontacting the page can be specified in box 125 by selecting from a menuof available choices. Whether e-mail or SMS events should be sent to theuser can be specified using send e-mails/SMS events buttons 126.

Accordingly, at the top of the page are the details the user hasspecified for Tony Soprano. One unique aspect of this system is the easewith which a new contact can be added to the system. The user merelyneeds to add a name and e-mail address to create an entity record forthe user. The user to whom the record relates can subsequently specifyadditional detail such as that shown in the bottom half 127 of thecontact detail page. Selecting the update button updates the contactinformation from the contact data base. The details which are publishedbeyond the basic details of the name and e-mail address are those whichare specified by the user to whom the contact details belong.Accordingly, the user can control the contact details which areavailable and also ensure that other users of the system easily obtaintheir updated contact details. For example, if the user changes e-mailaddress or phone numbers, the user merely needs to enter this into thecontact data base. This will then be updated the next time other usersattempt to access their contact details. The user also has control overwhat details are available. For example, in the contact details area 127no occupation is specified for Tony Soprano and his date of birth isalso blank. It will appreciated by persons skilled in the art thatadditional information can be displayed in this page—for example aphoto.

Referring now to FIG. 10, there is shown the data page of the secondarytask detail page. This page would normally display all externally linkedweb pages. In this case there are no web pages linked to the task. Thecreate detail button allows a user to add an additional web page.

FIG. 11 shows the schematic relationships between the task detail pages202 and 203, events, contacts and the other pages. The task detail pagesare shown accessible from the home page and associated with a set oftask preferences 250. A user can also access the chat page 210 and datapage 203 c.

As described above the task event association data base specifies theset of events 251 which are associated with this task from a particularevent a user can send an e-mail message using e-mail/SMS program 252 tocontacts (users) as indicated by arrows 253. Again, the users for thistask are specified by the entity/task association data base. When amessage regarding a new task 253 is sent to users, as indicated by box254 they are presented with options to accept 255, reject 256 or delete257 a task. If the user deletes themselves from the task, they areremoved from the task totally, if the user declines the task 256 theircontact details are not shown. If the user accepts the task 255 theircontact details are shown in relation to the task and an e-mail or SMSmessage 258 is sent to the initiating user 259.

Referring to FIG. 12, from secondary task detail page 203 c, the usercan create data pages 115 and add one or more uris to external webpages. These external uris are live pages elsewhere on the Internet. Auri can either be loaded manually onto the page or, if the page has therelevant link embedded, the data page can be created automatically aswill be described in more detail below.

Referring now to FIG. 13, there is shown the event/contact detail page205. This page is essentially a related view to page 203 a but allows auser to add additional events.

Accordingly, this page will only be to describe to the extent that it isdifferent to page 203 a. Aside from some minor differences such as therelocation of the reply buttons 84 a, 84 b to different locations on thepage, the detail is largely the same as that shown in FIG. 6. Add eventbox 130 allows a user to add details for example, the user may specify“Please proceed to table the new report”. The SMS alert status 131 isdisplayed immediately above the event box 130. This specifies whether anSMS alert will be sent to the user or users. Once the details of theevent have been placed into event box 130 it can be added by pressingevent box 32 and will be assigned to all users for whom checkboxes 133a, 133 b have been checked. The user can close this window by pressingbox 134.

Shown in FIG. 14 is the event reply page 206 which is accessed when theuser presses the reply button 84. In this case, the user has pressedreply button 84 b which shows the detail of the event in box 140 and theuser can reply in box 141. The date and time are shown in boxes 142 and143 respectively and the event status can be edited using event statusbuttons 144. Once the user has entered their reply they can save thereply using save button 145 which adds the reply to the event details.

FIG. 15 shows the “add contact page” which can be accessed from the newtask page 201 using button 43 or the task detail page 202 using addcontact button 60.

The existing contacts box 150 shows the contacts that have already beenadded to a task. By clicking on names 151 a, 151 b and 151 c users canbe removed from the task provided they were added to the task by theuser. Positioned below this area is a user list area 151 which specifiesall users who are known to for the user adding the contact. This list ofcontacts can be produced from the entity/task association data base.Clicking on a name 153 will add this contact to the task if they havenot been added to the task previously and send that user an e-mailmessage and an SMS message if SMS has been selected. For example,clicking on the name 153 c will send an e-mail message and an SMSmessage to Jane Doe. Pressing close window 154 will return the user tothe page from which they came.

If a contact is not on a user's list and the user wishes to add them,the user can select “search” which brings up search page 209 which willbe discussed in further detail below.

The user's contact page 208 is shown in FIG. 16. The contact page isaccessible from the home page by pressing contact list tab 23.

The list of John Smith's contacts including John Smith is set out incontact area 160. Contact list area 160 has a number of columns: name161 which specifies the names of the contacts, SMS status whichspecifies the user's SMS status which when clicked will enable free formSMS to be sent to that users device, the events column which specifiesthe number of events to or from that user, the user's e-mail address isspecified in column 164, their relationship with the contact list isspecified in list 165, whether they belong to any particular groups isspecified in column 166 and additional details such as their firm 167,mobile number 168, work number 169, fax number 170 are specified inadditional columns. There is also a delete contact column 171 thatallows contacts to be deleted.

The “create a group” box 172 allows a user to specify particular usersas belonging to a particular group.

A number of additional features are provided on the page, for example,there is a filter box 173 that allows the user to select which contactsare displayed. For example, entering the name Tony will only displaycontacts who have the name Tony.

If a user wants to add a contact to their list, they do this using addcontact area 180. The user enters the first name 181, last name 182,e-mail address 183 and company name 184 into the relevant fields andthen presses the search button.

The search engine then searches the entity data base for possiblematches and produces a list of possible candidates. This is shown in thecontact search page 209 where the entity search area 180 is duplicatedand there is a list of possible matches in area 186. A user can add auser from this list to their list of contacts by pressing buttons 182 aor 182 b. If no contact is filed, the user uses the add area 190 tospecify the new user, the user is then required to enter first name 191,surname 192, e-mail address 193, optionally, mobile number 194,relationship 195 and whether e-mail messages should be sent 196.

Persons skilled in art will appreciate that this detail can beautomatically filled in from the search area 180.

Referring to FIG. 18 there is shown a chat page 210 which can beaccessed from the task page or home page as described above. The messagearea 260 allows the user to insert a message. Below the chat area arethe list of users associated with the task. Checkboxes 261 a, 261 ballow the user to specify which contacts are invited to participate inthe chat. SMS buttons 262 a and 262 b allow the user to send an SMSmessage notifying the users that a chat is in progress or about tobegin. Chat history area 263 shows the series of messages 264 c. TheChat column 265 includes the message. The “from” column 286 indicateswho sent the message 266. Date and time columns 268, 269 indicate whenthe message was sent and the delete column 270 allows particularportions of the message to be deleted.

The chat flow chart is shown in FIG. 19 when a chat is started at step280, the user selects contacts from their contact list and optionallysends as indicated by box 283 an SMS message to the contacts. A messageis added to the chat page 284 which lists each of the messages and thechat contents are returned 285 to the owner and stored in relation tothe task.

Referring now to FIG. 20, there is shown the preferences page 211 whichis accessible using tab 25. Contact area 290 allows the user to managetheir details including things such as password, e-mail addresses, phonenumbers etc. As these have been described in some detail elsewhere theyare not described further here. In the properties section 291, the usercan specify the area 292 whether they can receive SMS alerts. The usercan use the task selection button to specify for what types of task theywill or won't receive SMS alerts. For example, the user may wish toreceive SMS alerts for personal tasks that occur outside of work hourswhen they may not have access to their computer but not during workhours when they will be able to access their e-mails.

The user can specify, using selection buttons 294 and 295 respectively,whether they will receive SMSs when they are invited to join a task orwhen a new event is created. Refresh rate box 296 allows the user tospecify how often their home page should be refreshed and update button297 sends the user's updated contact details and properties to thecontact data base.

SMS account detail 298 indicates the user's SMS account details. A useris required to maintain an SMS account if they wish to be able to usethe system to send SMS messages. The SMS account details detail thenumber of SMS messages sent, the dollar figure spent, the number ofcredits they have (i.e. messages they can send) and the balance of theiraccount. The user also has the option to buy additional SMS creditsusing buttons 299 that link the user to an external payment site wherethey can pay for additional SMS credits.

From the perspective of a new user of system, the user will typically benotified that they have been signed up to the system by receiving ane-mail message from a person they know.

The e-mail message will specify that the user is invited to join a taskand include a title and subject of the task. The e-mail message willalso include a task uri that will allow the new user to access a homepage that will include the task in the manner described above for anexisting user. Thus, the user is immediately connected to the system andable to participate in tasks without first having to register with thesystem. It will also be noted that the system is accessible from theuser's browser and accordingly the user does not need to download anysoftware.

Although the user does not need to submit their details in order tocommunicate in relation to the task, the initial home page prompts thenew user to update their details—i.e. to include full address details,open an SMS account and to complete other such details as will beapparent from referring to the above description of an existing user.

There are also a number of additional ways in which a user can initiatethe creation of a task.

In one embodiment, the user adds a uri to their browser which is named,conveniently as “create a quick-link”. This uri, in effect, contains ascript which will add the subject page (i.e. the page the user iscurrently viewing) to a new task record and allocate a uri to thatrecord when clicked on. The task record will then be viewable from theuser's home page. Thus, the user is able to create a new task page usinga single click of the mouse. The user may view the task and addcontacts, in the manner described above. It will be noted that the userdoes not necessarily have to communicate this task to other users.

The browser record is typically a list of uris known as a “bookmark” inNetscape Navigator or as a set of “favorites” in Microsoft InternetExplorer, however, it will be appreciated that the appropriate scriptmay be stored in any convenient manner it the user's browsers.

In the same vein, the user may have an additional uri named “add a page”stored in the same manner in the browser record that allows a user toadd a subject page to an existing task. Thus, a user may be creatingdata page for a particular task, for example, the user may wish tocreate a list of possible cars which they wish to purchase. Once thetask is created, a cookie is stored in the user's browser which lets thesystem know which is the “Active” quick-link, the “add a page” script isconfigured to add data including the uri of the subject page to the datapage of the active task.

In addition to storing such links in the user's browser record, the linkmay be embedded in an existing web page. This can be used as a prompt tothe user to create a new task record. Where the user is a new user, theuser will be required to specify certain minimum details such as theire-mail address as described above so that the user can be added to theentity data base and an appropriate record can be added to theentity/task association data base.

In one embodiment, the link may be configured to automatically create atask with a predetermined user. It will be appreciated that in thiscase, the owner of the task can be set either as the predetermined useror the person who initiates creation of the task record. For example, alink entitled “create a quick-link with one of our sales people” may belocated on a page for a new car. Clicking on the link may create a newtask in which the salesperson is automatically added as the owner of thetask and the user is prompted to enter their name and e-mail address inorder to set up the task. The user is then transferred to the task pageand can communicate with the salesperson, for example, by initiating achat as described above. Thus, the initiating user and the owner of thetask can be two different users, although in most cases the initiatinguser will be the owner.

In one embodiment, the uri that is emailed upon creation of a taskand/or message “event” has a timed lifetime. That is, when an event iscreated, a recipient of the event has say, 24 hours to click the link,to be taken directly to the task page without being challenged by alogin prompt. The reason for this feature is that some users may chooseto store the messages sent to them and at a later date, click the link.Unauthorised users may take advantage of this to compromise anotheruser's account. However, appropriate use of Quick-Links is to speed thecommunication process and to challenge users, especially new users,every time for password details would burden usage of the system. Thesetting of this timeout event is task or event specific and can be setto zero minutes for task labeled “Confidential” or infinity for taskslabeled e.g. “Public”.

FIG. 22 illustrates an additional frame which in one embodiment isdisplayed as part of the user's homepage—in this example to the right ofthe user's homepage. This additional frame allows the user to monitorthe system so that they can see when new tasks, events, links as theyare added. This portion of the homepage is updated on a periodic basis(e.g. every minute). The frame is divided into three regions. A newmessage region 351 which relates to all new tasks or events created forthe user, a new files portion 352 which includes all new files whichrelate to the user and a new links section 353 which relates to all newlinks that have been sent to the user.

The user has the option to dismiss these prompts using dismiss buttons354 or to mark them as read using button 355 or to reply using button356. Thus frame 350 provides an alternative view of the tasks and eventsassociated with the user.

While the description of the preferred embodiment of the invention hasrelied on the terminology “clicking” to refer to a user selecting abutton or link using a mouse and clicking on the button or link usingthe mouse button, persons skilled in the art will appreciate that thebuttons or links could also be selected using keyboard commands, forexample by tabbing or using arrow keys until an appropriate button isselected or by using so-called “hot keys”.

While one embodiment of the invention has been described herein, personsskilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications may bemade to the system without departing from the scope of the invention.Such modifications should be understood as falling within the scope ofthe invention described herein.

1. A system for enabling a user to create at least one task, the systemcomprising: a host server for hosting task pages once they have beencreated; at least one user computer running a browser program operableby at least one user to access task pages hosted by said host serverthat said at least one user has permission to access; and a task creatorconfigured to create a task record in response to a command from aninitiating user, the task record including a task universal resourceindicator (uri) for each new task whereby said host server can create atask page from said task record that can be accessed using said taskuri.
 2. A system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said system comprises aplurality of user computers.
 3. A system as claimed in claim 2, whereinsaid task creator is configured to allow the initiating user to specifyat least one additional user for a task and to create an associationrecord specifying the initiating user and any additional users specifiedby the initiating user, the association record defining the users whohave permission to access the task page.
 4. A system as claimed in claim3, wherein the task creator is configured to dispatch a messageincluding the task uri to the at least one additional user to therebyinform the at least one additional user of the task whereafter the atleast one additional user can access said task page using a browserprogram run by the additional user's user computer.
 5. A system asclaimed in claim 4, comprising e-mail messaging means whereby themessage dispatched is an e-mail message.
 6. A system as claimed in claim4, comprising SMS messaging means whereby the message dispatched is anSMS message.
 7. A system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the task creatoris a task creation program run by said host server which is operableusing the browser program run by the initiating user's user computer. 8.A system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said task creator allows aninitiating user to add at least one subject uri of at least one subjectpage to the task record, whereafter the task page includes the at leastone subject uri whereby users can access the subject page from the taskpage.
 9. A system as claimed in claim 1, wherein a task creation uri isplaced on a subject page and the initiating user sends a command to saidtask creator by selecting the task creation uri whereafter the taskcreator creates a task record including the uri of the subject uri. 10.A system as claimed in claim 9, further comprising automatically addingan additional user to the task record.
 11. A system as claimed in claim1, further comprising a task creation uri stored in a uri record of aninitiating user's browser, whereby when viewing a subject page aninitiating user sends a command to said task creator by selecting thetask creation uri from the uri record whereafter the task creatorcreates a task record including the subject uri.
 12. A system as claimedin claim 1, wherein said host server hosts a home page for each user.13. A system as claimed in claim 12, wherein said home page isconfigured such that users can access all tasks which they havepermission to access from their respective home pages.
 14. A system asclaimed in claim 1, further comprising an event creator for creatingevents associated with a task.
 15. A system as claimed in claim 14,wherein an event may be created from the task page.
 16. A system asclaimed in claim 1, further comprising chat means which allows users whohave permission to access a task to chat to one another when they arelogged onto the system at the same time.
 17. A system as claimed inclaim 16, wherein each task page has means for initiating a chat.
 18. Asystem as claimed in claim 1, wherein said task creator is configured toallow specification of a lifetime for a task whereby during saidlifetime a user who selects the task uri is directed immediately to thetask page and outside said lifetime said user is required to confirmtheir identity.